Many companies thought they would hold onto their Microsoft Windows XP operating systems for just a little while longer, and why not? It’s been a juggernaut in business computing for these last thirteen years. With over a billion copies sold globally nobody can argue that it hasn’t been one of the best releases in Microsoft’s storied history.

Even after Microsoft announced that extended support for XP would be discontinued (for real this time) on April 8, 2014 and that no more security patches would be made available therefore leaving users vulnerable to attack businesses and individuals decided to stick it out a little longer.

Even though ZDNet reported that “criminals may have been stashing away exploits to use once Microsoft has departed the scene, leaving the OS open to unpublished lines of attack” they decided to hold on.

Even when Gartner Research vice-president and research director Michael Silver said “There’s certainly a possibility of some vulnerabilities that were already known that haven’t been exploited yet” people thought, maybe I can get a few more months out of it.

Now this. The New York Times has reported that while Microsoft rushes to fix a vulnerability found in their Internet Explorer browser no updates will be offered to Windows XP users.

According to Vitor De Souza of FireEye “It’s a campaign of targeted attacks seemingly against U.S.-based firms, currently tied to defense and financial sectors.  It’s unclear what the motives of this attack group are, at this point. It appears to be broad-spectrum intel gathering.”

So what do you do? Call us. It’s not to late to protect yourself and your business

We can help you:

  • Decide what to do next based on your specific needs
  • Buy and set up a new computer and/or software if necessary
  • Migrate your data
  • Train you on the new operating system

For more information how we can assist you please visit our Information Technology page or contact Dan Johnson at djohnson@gravoc.com or (978) 538-9055 x196.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This